Dr. Pat Sells, associate professor of physical therapy, and a group of doctoral PT students from Belmont University are in the midst of conducting research on how multiple sub-concussive hits affect children ages 5 to 12. The research team has enlisted The Brentwood Blaze, a youth football organization, for study participants, and those efforts were recently featured in an article on the Brentwood Home Page. The article, written by Jonathan Romeo, is linked here with an excerpt below.
Brentwood Blaze taking active role in youth concussion study
By JONATHAN ROMEO Published: March 17, 2014With the spotlight on the impact of and long-term ramifications of concussions in professional sports, many high school teams and youth organizations are revisiting approaches to head injuries.
The Brentwood Blaze, the city’s youth football organization that fields teams for ages 4 through 12 with an average of 400 football participants, is an active participant in a study to help determine concussions’ long-term effects on the youngest of athletes.
A concussion — a disturbance in the brain function caused by a direct or indirect force to the head – is most commonly associated with one hard-hitting blow to the head. It results in a variety of non-specific signs and symptoms including headaches, unsteadiness, confusion and abnormal behavior.
Dr. Pat Sells, a physical therapy teacher at Belmont University, has set out to specifically determine how multiple sub-concussive hits affect children ages 5 to 12.
According to Sells, he and his doctoral students are the only known organization doing research to try to answer the question.
“There’s lots of media attention about concussions and its impact, but one area that doesn’t have as much research is youth sports,” Sells said.
“Our hypothesis is that any contact with the head causes the brain to move. So does a season of exposure to this kind of contact have any affects?” he said.
Collecting data from 60 youth football players throughout the 2013 season, Sells and his team performed a series of assessment tests. The evaluations included different balance tests, cognitive questions and a coordination examination.
“When we compared pre-season to post-season evaluations, we found no statistical difference. However, that was only from our first year and what we ultimately need is a larger data set,” Sells said.
Sells noted the study is an ongoing process with Brentwood Blaze, which will continue for years to come. As a part of the research, Sells and his students will compare findings with children from non-contact sports to see if they can detect any difference.